Streptokinase treatment of deep venous thrombosis and the postthrombotic syndrome. Follow-up evaluation of venous function

U. Albrechtsson, J. Anderson, E. Einarsson, B. Eklof and L. Norgren

The conditions of 35 patients with deep venous thrombosis treated with streptokinase were reevaluated after a mean of 29 months with clinical examination, venous plethysmography, foot volumetry, phlebography (28 patients) and femoral vein pressure measurement (24 patients). At follow-up, 25 patients (71%) had symptoms and 22 (63%) had signs of venous insufficiency. Plethysmography was abnormal in 29 patients (83%) and foot volumetry in 25 (72%). Only two (6%) of the patients had normal plethysmography and foot volumetry and were free from symptoms and signs. No leg ulcer or severe postthrombotic syndrome was found. Phlebography showed that no patient had a normal deep venous system. Six of earlier thrombotic iliac veins (38%) and femoral veins 14 (48%), respectively, remained occluded. Increased femoral venous pressure, more pronounced during and after exercise, was found when iliac vein was diseased. Our results emphasize the importance of functional evaluation of the patient with a postthrombotic leg.